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Department of Child & Family Development
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Child Development Major

Our mission is to prepare students to become early childhood educators and professionals who work with children and families in their schools and communities. The focus of the department is on the study of social-emotional development as the underlying foundation for all other areas of development including physical, cognitive, motor, and language. The program represents an interdisciplinary field of study with the basic assumption that development takes place across the lifespan in the context of the family, community, and public policy.

Our department’s emphasis on primary prevention prepares students through hands-on, community-based learning experiences. Field experience programs offer students supervised work in community agencies, children's programs, the SDSU Children's Center, as well as multiple school districts across San Diego.

What can I do with this degree?

Prepare for a professional career

The interdisciplinary Child Development Major, Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences (major code 08231/330909) prepares students for a variety of professional career specialties. Graduates with competencies in this major find positions in:

  • Early care and education settings
  • Schools
  • Hospitals and clinics
  • Residential facilities
  • Counseling and mental health centers
  • Public welfare and family service agencies
  • Family planning clinics
  • Community programs
  • Business, industry, and government agencies

Descriptions of career opportunities of the major are available from SDSU Career Services.

Permits

State-licensed, publicly-funded, center-based childcare and child development programs will typically require a Child Development Permit. Visit the California Child Development Permits for more information.

Preparation for a credential program

Students can enter teaching credential programs (single subject/secondary education, multiple subjects/elementary education, and special education) upon graduation. See below for more information about credential programs.

Further Information about ways to meet credential and certification requirements are available at teach.sdsu.edu. 

Prepare for graduate study

A child development major provides preparation for graduate study in child or family development, developmental or school psychology, social work, counseling, marriage and family therapy, special education, law, social-emotional behavior modification, and other social sciences.

The CFD Department provides an ideal curriculum for undergraduates preparing to enter graduate programs in the College of Education. Individuals with a B.S. from the CFD department enter graduate school prepared to become professionals who have a comprehensive understanding of child development in the context of family and schools within a cultural and global context. CFD shares COE’s mission to prepare SDSU students to help develop, implement and evaluate services for children and families. Both value practicum and fieldwork as an essential component of developing knowledge and skills in working with children and families.

Develop a range of skills, knowledge, competencies, and experience

The special skills, experiences, and areas of knowledge gained by the Child Development major are varied and include:

  • Developmental perspectives
  • Knowledge of the development (physical, psychological, emotional, social) of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, adolescents, and adults
  • Knowledge of family violence and child maltreatment
  • Developmentally appropriate curriculum
  • Inclusion, team-teaching, interagency community networking, cross-discipline experiences
  • Atypical development
  • Advocacy and public policy
  • Knowledge of dating, marriage, parenting, parent-child and peer relationships, family development, adulthood and aging
  • Early intervention skills
  • Community engagement and research skills

Degree Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Map

Please see Degree Learning Outcomes and Curriculum Map document for our degree learning objectives and curriculum map. 

Admission and Academic Requirements

Admission criteria

To be admitted into the interdisciplinary Child Development Major, Bachelor of Science in Applied Arts and Sciences (major code 08231), students must meet the following supplementary admission criteria:

Complete with a grade of C or higher:

  • Child and Family Development 135, 270, 270L, 272, 275, 278
  • Biology 100; Psychology 101; Sociology 101; and Psychology 280 or Sociology 201 or a 3-unit elementary statistics course
  • Complete a minimum of 45 baccalaureate-level semester units (a minimum of 60 units is required for all transfer applicants)
  • Have a cumulative GPA of 2.40 or higher.
No, prerequisites are strictly enforced in the CFD Department.
No, prerequisite classes must be completed.

Community college transfer students

Students should visit the website, www.assist.org. ASSIST is an online student-transfer information system that shows how course credits earned at one public California college or university can be applied when transferred to another. ASSIST is the official repository of articulation for California’s public colleges and universities and provides the most accurate and up-to-date information about student transfer in California.
The CFD Undergraduate Advisor can accept a course taken at another institution if the coursework is the same as the SDSU course. Students need to meet with the advisor with a catalog description of the course and the course syllabus. If accepted, the advisor will complete the paperwork to accept the course.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Transfer Admission Planner (TAP): This program is provided to help you identify courses required to meet transfer admission requirements for SDSU. It contains information about transfer courses that may be used to meet General Education Requirements and Preparation for the Major. It can also be used to help you identify individual courses that are equivalent to courses offered at SDSU.

Coursework

The University Catalog: Child Development, B.S. indicates the required CFD classes. Your Degree Audit Report (available in my.SDSU) and the MyMap are also helpful tools. Most importantly, use the education plan made in consultation with your CFD major advisors.

Grades, Credit/No Credit

Required upper-division units

The Child Development major requires a minimum of 53 upper-division units to include:

  • CFD 335, 354, 370, 375A, 375B, 375C, 475, 537, 560, 575, 578, 590, 598, and:
  • 2 of the following: CFD 378A, 378B, 378C, and 378D
  • 12 units of upper-division electives
Education Plan
The Education Plan is a semester-by-semester guide that includes the student’s CFD Major Requirements and other courses required for graduation. 
Your advisors will revise and update your education plan at every academic advising meeting and share a copy with you.  You can also request a digital copy at any time.
Major Academic Plans (MAPs)

Visit http://www.sdsu.edu/mymap for the recommended courses needed to fulfill the major requirements.

Moving from pre-major to major

All students must complete a series of “Preparation for the Major” classes (see catalog) and earn at least a C in each class. Students must also have a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.4 and have completed a total of no fewer than 45 units. Once this is done, students will move from the “pre-major” to the “major” and may begin taking upper division CFD classes. 
At the end of each semester, after grades have been processed, students will automatically be changed from the pre-major to the major if they have met the requirements indicated in the preceding question. Students will be notified of the change via email. When students take classes at other institutions, this process may not happen automatically. If so, students should meet with the CFD Undergraduate Advisor to expedite the process.

Additional graduation requirements

In order to graduate, all Child and Family Development majors are required to complete the equivalent of 3 units or 120 hours (minimum) in one of 3 study areas with the pre-approval and written consent of the undergraduate advisor. The 3 areas are:

  1. Study Abroad: Courses taken as part of study abroad may count toward the completion of the child development degree. Students need to work with the undergraduate adviser to make sure their selection of classes will qualify. Learn more about the Study Abroad requirement.
  2. Research: Selected topics are determined by the Department of Child and Family Development. Contact department for directions to register in research laboratories (Child and Family Development 499). Assignments will be made after an interview with the department chair. 
  3. Community-Based Learning: Students work directly with children and service providers in preselected community outreach programs/agencies to further their career and professional development. Students register in Child and Family Development 597 and work under supervision of faculty as well as service partners.

All students will enroll in CFD 598 to develop their reflective learning portfolios to demonstrate the ways in which they are meeting the program goals and learning outcomes.

G.E. Requirements

Follow the University Catalog and the requirements of the Child Development major:

  • You may follow the G.E. requirements in effect during the year entered SDSU or another campus in the CSU system or a California Community College, provided that continuous attendance, (as defined in the University Catalog) was maintained.
  • You may follow the University Catalog that is currently in effect at the time of entrance to SDSU or the University Catalog that is in effect at the time of graduation.
  • You may follow the Child Development major requirements of the University Catalog that is current (in effect) at the time of the declaration of the major or that is in effect at the time of graduation.

Note: Students need to work with the Undergraduate Advisor and/or Department Chair to make sure that they are meeting graduation requirements.

For more information talk to an advisor:

Undergraduate Advisors, Child Development Major and Minor

[email protected]